Nothing to hide in boxing's new scoring system: AIBA

Hamburg, Aug 25 (PTI) International Boxing Association
(AIBA) President Dr Ching Kuo-Wu today said the world body's
recently-revamped scoring system has left no room for
discontent as referees have been put under greater scrutiny.

"Boxing is a subjective sport but we, at the AIBA, have
been trying to train referee judges to be the best. This is
the fundamental. We are pushing to make sure that referees
follow this fundamental," Dr Wu said while speaking to the
media here.

"We were using a computerised system earlier and we found
out that it was, sometimes, not giving us the best results.
But now you can see that judges are more responsible for their
scores. At the end of each round, the scores by all the judges
are visible to everyone. There is nothing to hide," he added.

The previous system, which was in use till the Rio
Olympics last year, relied on taking an average of the scores
given, in which the points by judges, who handed the least and
the most, were dropped from the final calculation.

The system drew massive flak over a period of time, the
tipping point being the Olympic Games where several
participants expressed their discontent.

The AIBA then decided to revamp the scoring and as per
the new norms, the scores given by all five judges are taken
into consideration for the final verdict.

Dr Wu claimed that the new system has not been met with
any complaints so far.

"We have found the new system is very good. There are no
arguments anymore. In this World Championship itself, it will
be clear to everyone how well it works," he asserted.

Another contentious issue facing AIBA has been boxing's
Olympic programme. This is owing to the International Olympic
Committee's decision to increase the women's weight categories
from three to five, while curtailing the men's categories from
the current 10 to eight, for greater gender parity.

Asked whether the AIBA has been able to work out which
two men's categories would be dropped from the 2020 Tokyo
Games roster, Dr Wu said the deliberations are on.

"The Olympic weight categories were discussed at the AIBA
Executive Committee meeting last month and the consultations
will continue for now," he said.

"The IOC wants 50-50 participation for both men and women
and AIBA is committed to the cause of gender parity. The EC
agrees to that as well but some feel that this can be achieved
without reducing men's categories. We will continue to move
forward," he said.

However, Dr Wu steered clear of the headline-grabbing
dissensions in the AIBA. The world body is currently embroiled
in a legal battle with some of its own members, who have
called for Dr Wu to step down owing to allegations of
corruption.

"The matter is in court and I will not comment on it. We
will not talk about politics and focus only on these 10 days
of the World Championships," he said